Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 130, Section 129: Airport Confirmed, Eastern Mercenaries: Ganjun
After spending the morning there, Fang Wen arrived at Wanping.

From his experiences along the way and the introduction from the local gentry of Wanping, Fang Wen gained a more detailed understanding of the terrain here.

The entire area is high in the south and low in the north, surrounded by mountains, with a flat area in the middle, through which the Shanmu River flows.

The habitable area is mainly on the plain in the middle.

The goal is to pinpoint the specific airport area, which is where you'll be looking.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Fang Wen asked, "Old Peng, you're a local, where do you think would be a better place to build an airport?"

Peng is a common surname here. The former chieftain was surnamed Peng. Later, the system of replacing chieftains with centrally appointed officials was implemented, and ethnic groups were integrated. The Peng surname still holds great prestige in the local area.

Upon hearing Fang Wen's question, the elderly man surnamed Peng replied without hesitation: "It's in Longzhai Village. It's near the Shanmu River, with flat terrain and a large population. It's where our market is located. People from the surrounding villages come here to attend the market at fixed times."

"What is 'rushing to the market'?" Sun Debiao asked.

“Our market isn’t open every day. It’s only open at fixed times when villagers spontaneously agree to come and trade. Locals call it ‘going to the market.’ Today is market day, so we can go and take a look, and also check out the terrain around Longzhai Village.”

The elderly man surnamed Peng made a strong invitation, and Fang Wen guessed that the other party must have some business there, and that it would be profitable once the airport was built.

That's not a problem. Fang Wen is willing to align the interests of locals with those of the airport, especially those with status and position.

“Then let’s go to Longzhai Village.” He agreed.

The old man was immediately delighted and instructed the group on their next move.

With some distance still to go before reaching Longzhai Village, Fang Wen thought of the bandits.

The bandits here are different from those in Fuyang.

Fuyang is a plain, so suppressing bandits is not difficult; a regular regiment could handle it.

The Xiangxi region is mountainous with many karst caves. Local bandits are difficult to deal with as they usually burrow through the mountains and caves, and wiping them all out would be no easy task.

It should be noted that even after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it took a lot of effort to eradicate the local banditry.

Therefore, he asked again.

"Mr. Peng, can we guarantee the safety of building an airport here? I mean, will those bandits come and cause trouble often?"

The local gentryman surnamed Peng looked somewhat embarrassed.

“Banditry is indeed a problem here. People from every village and hamlet go to become bandits. Some are small groups of a few people, while others are hundreds of people.”

The smaller ones are fine, but Fang Wen is more worried about the hundreds of people who could pose a threat to the airport and factories.

"Please explain in detail, Mr. Peng."

The old man explained everything one by one.

In Longshan, to the west, Shi Xingwu was the only one who held power and became the king of bandits.

Although Yongshun has no major bandits, it has a large number of them.

The same was true in other regions, where banditry was rampant.

Upon hearing this, Fang Wen frowned.

Wu Ziyue interjected, "Old Peng, no matter how many bandits there are, they wouldn't dare to provoke the chieftain. The Miao people are united and fearless in battle."

The local gentry surnamed Peng shook his head: "After the abolition of the native chieftain system, the chieftains in our area declined. But now that you mention it, I'm reminded of something. If your Taishan Airlines wants to build an airport, you should recruit people from Zhengan City. The people there are only thinking about eating soldiers' food and fighting big battles. If you recruit a group of people to be the security team, even ordinary bandits won't dare to mess with them."

Where is Zhengan City?
Fang Wen took out a map, and there was indeed a place called Zhengan on it.

But that place will have another name in the future: Phoenix.

"Yes," Fang Wen suddenly remembered the stories about this place.

Phoenix, which is now Zhengan City, has an Eastern mercenary force.

His name is Ganjun.

This army is comparable to the British Nepalese Gurkha mercenaries or the French Foreign Legion.

Very powerful in combat.

Fang Wen recalled the memories he had obtained from the internet in his previous life.

It seems that among Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army, the Gan Army was one of the strongest fighting forces.

These professional mercenaries even participated in future battles against the Japanese and achieved considerable success.

With this in mind, Fang Wen became very interested in Zhengan City. He planned to visit Fenghuang after he finished his investigation there.

At 1 p.m., Fang Wen and his group arrived in Longzhai Township.

As Mr. Peng said, they are rushing to the next event.

Villagers dressed in traditional Miao clothing came from all over and set up stalls on the spot.

These people simultaneously play the roles of both consumers and sellers.

They would take out various agricultural products from their baskets to sell, and at the same time buy things they needed for their own families.

It was merely a superficial representation of the ancient small-scale peasant economy, with most people living in a self-sufficient agricultural production relationship.

Fang Wen alighted from the sedan chair and looked around.

These villagers sell a wide variety of things.

Sun-dried tobacco, pottery, free-range chickens and ducks, soft-shelled turtles, eels and loaches.

There are also some local specialties, such as smoked tofu made with firewood, cured meat, wild game, and dried glutinous rice cakes.

Actually, although it is backward, the local environment has nurtured its people, and the local products are quite abundant.

After enjoying the local market, everyone was a little hungry.

The local gentry surnamed Peng suggested, "Let's have a simple meal at my house, and then go look at the land this afternoon?"

"Never mind, I'll just eat whatever's available on the street." Fang Wen wasn't too particular; he'd find some clean food and eat it quickly before getting down to business.

He looked around and saw people frying rice cakes in oil and others selling rice noodles.

"What is that?" Sun Debiao, a northerner, asked curiously.

Fang Wen looked over and replied, "It's rice tofu. It's a popular food in the southwest region, and its main ingredient is rice. Let's go, we'll have it for lunch."

As the group walked over, Peng, the local gentry, said, "Just do what you need to do, I'll pay for whatever they eat."

The shopkeeper nodded happily, cut a large block of rice tofu into finger-sized cubes, and then poured on soy sauce, chopped pickled vegetables, scallions, salted vegetables, crushed peanuts, chili peppers, and garlic water; that made a bowl.

After finishing the rice tofu, we began the formal inspection.

The group arrived outside Longzhai Village and continued on their way.

This place is indeed very suitable.

A rare wide plain nestled in the mountains.

Although it's not very large, it's enough to build an airport.

Fang Wen specially climbed up the mountain to get a better view.

He discussed the matter with Mr. Peng.

"Airports require a lot of facilities, including runways, aprons, maintenance hangars, communication towers, fuel depots, fire stations, and office buildings. These all require a lot of land, and it has to be in a contiguous area. I think this place is quite good; is it possible to buy the entire area?"

"Buy it all?" Old Peng was overjoyed. "To be honest, my family owns a third of this land, and the rest belongs to nearby residents. Selling it all to Taishan Airlines isn't out of the question, it's just a matter of price..."

"I can't make that decision; we'll have to wait for someone else from the company to come and discuss it," Fang Wen replied.

Buying such a large area for development and building roads is not something Fang Wen is going to do this time.

He is the decision-maker, and the specific matters require a lot of time and energy to be handled here. It is simply impossible for Fang Wen to stay here for an extended period of time.

This matter should be left to Fang Shouxin and his son Fang Shun.

The father and son not only built the airport here, but also brought 60 medicine fillers, 20 tinsmiths, and Huo Duanyang's gradually growing chemical team.

After concluding his inspection of Wanping, Fang Wen subtly indicated that he would report the situation to his superiors and approved the site as a potential location for airport construction.

They then prepared to leave Yongshun and head to Zhengancheng.

In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the airport project in the local area, the county government specially dispatched soldiers to escort Fang Wen and his party back to Wang Village. They did not encounter any bandits along the way.

Upon arriving at Wangcun, they retrieved the small steamer and set off again. This time, they returned via the same route, traveling downstream along the You River to Yuanling Wharf.

After a brief rest and replenishment of coal there, the small steamboat continued upstream along the Yuan River.

The route passes through Luxi County, Pushi Town, and Chenxi County.

A small river called Chenshui flows into the Yuanjiang River section of Chenxi County.

Entering through this river, heading west, you arrive at Mayang County.

This is where the Miao people gather.

As the small steamer was about to dock, Wu Ziyue whispered, "Don't greet the Miao people casually. Some of them don't understand Mandarin. If we break their rules, they'll follow us closely, and we'll have a hard time getting away."

Fang Wen nodded. "Do the guys you brought know Miao language?"

“I know a little. In the past, when we came to purchase tung oil, we relied entirely on them,” Wu Ziyue replied.

Immediately after disembarking, Wu Ziyue went to find his business partners to discuss storing the small steamer and going to Zhengan City.

Fang Wen followed, while Sun Debiao and a man stayed on the boat.

After following Wu Ziyue into the city, they went straight to the tung oil shop.

The tung oil shops in the town were very large, much like the scene in Jiaxing where people would sail boats to sell grain. People here would sail boats to transport barrels of tung oil to the tung oil shops in the county town for sale.

Fang Wen exclaimed in surprise: "So many people selling tung oil?"

Wu Ziyue explained in a low voice: "This is my important source of goods. The entire Mayang County produced 1.5 dan of tung oil last year, of which 1.1 dan were sold outside the county. Most of my tung oil comes from here."

"I see," Fang Wen said without saying anything more, and followed Wu Ziyue into the shop.

Wu Ziyue was an old acquaintance here, and was warmly received by the shop owner as soon as he appeared.

Upon hearing that they needed to store their small steamer, the owner of the tung oil shop readily agreed and even arranged for a few people to travel to Zhengan City.

Although the straight-line distance between the two places is only 20 kilometers, the actual journey is all mountain roads, and there are many bandits along the way, so outsiders should not act recklessly.

We rested overnight in Mayang City and set off the next day.

When we went to Zhengan, the owner of the tung oil shop sent guards to accompany us.

Five men carrying long guns led them out of the city and along a mountain path.

After walking about ten kilometers, the group entered a narrow passage between two mountains.

The guards were a little nervous, took off their spears, and proceeded cautiously.

This situation also alerted Fang Wen and his group.

Wu Ziyue whispered, "This area is the border between the two counties, and bandits often roam around here."

Fang Wen took out his pistol and looked at Sun Debiao. "Get your weapon."

Sun Debiao also took out two Mauser pistols.

Even Wu Ziyue took out a short gun from his body, and the two henchmen picked up long daggers.

In chaotic times, doing business requires preparation and courage.

The group proceeded cautiously and on guard.

Suddenly, a strange noise came from the mountain on the left.

Immediately afterwards, a group of people rushed down.

Some of these people were carrying old-fashioned muzzle-loading matchlock guns, while others were carrying broadswords.

At the very front was a strange man whose face and body were covered in blood-stained patterns, and who held not weapons, but wooden plaques engraved with gold lines.

The five guards from Mayang City actually began to retreat, clearly out of fear.

One of Wu Ziyue's associates spoke up: "From the Jintan Association."

In his previous research, Fang Wen had heard that many members of secret societies had led their followers up the mountain to become bandits, but he never expected to encounter them here.

"What are you afraid of? They don't have guns," Fang Wen asked, puzzled.

"After drinking the magic water, you'll be invulnerable to swords and spears," the shopkeeper said fearfully.

Judging from his expression, he, like the five guards of Ma Yang, dared not offend the great immortal of the Taoist sect.

Even Sun Debiao was a little afraid.

The enemy was about to charge in.

Without hesitation, Fang Wen raised his Browning pistol, gripped it with both hands, and aimed the sights at the sorcerer.

Bang! A gunshot rang out, and the immortal stopped.

As soon as they saw that the sage had stopped moving, everyone behind him stopped.

A moment later, the immortal knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach, blood trickling from between his fingers.

Sun Debiao then realized what was happening and looked ashamed: "Pah, you're just playing tricks, I'll kill you all."

He raised his pistol and shot another bandit in the arm, and the rabble immediately scattered.

Only two injured people remained on the hillside, groaning in pain.

Wu Ziyue hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Should we save them?"

“Let’s go. There are kind-hearted people in this world.” Fang Wen adjusted his brother-in-law’s mindset without hesitation. The experiences of the past year had changed him a lot. He was no longer the man from the future who couldn’t stand the sight of blood.

“Yes. This is the path they chose themselves, they can’t blame anyone else.” Wu Ziyue sighed and turned his head away, never looking at the two again.

The next leg of the journey.

There were also bandits from the mountains who blocked the road.

But there were rules: you could pass by simply placing one or two silver dollars on a roadside stone.

This money must be paid.

Because those experienced bandits will only hide in the shadows and not come out. If you don't give them what they want, they will shoot you in the dark, which is the most troublesome thing.

It was precisely because they didn't ask for much that, over time, this became the rule: paying a toll for passage ensured safety.

Thus, on the 50-mile mountain road, they encountered four groups of bandits. Apart from the first group of bandits from the Huidaomen, the others were dealt with by the guards from Mayang whom they had hired, and they passed through smoothly.

Around 2 p.m., the group crossed the last mountain and arrived outside Zhengan City.

The group prepared to enter the city, but the guards from Mayang, who were carrying spears, could not enter and parted ways with them.

After bidding farewell to the guards, Fang Wen and his group of five headed towards the ancient city.

There were no guards at the city gate; people could come and go as they pleased.

They went straight in and toured the city.

It was an ancient city built along a river.

The city walls of this ancient city stretch for several miles, forming a small city. There are also many buildings outside the city and on the opposite bank of the river.

Many of the buildings along the river are semi-suspended, supported by a few pillars; these are called stilted houses.

After touring around for a while, it was time to get down to business.

Fang Wen stopped a boy with a pigtail.

Where is your county government located?

The boy stared blankly at Fang Wen, unsure how to respond.

An old man smoking a pipe by the roadside chuckled and said, "If you want to ask the yamen (government office), he'll know. We don't call it the county government here."

Fang Wen nodded: "Uncle, how do I get to the yamen?"

The old man didn't answer, but instead asked why: "Where are you going?"

After hesitating for a moment, Fang Wen finally revealed the reason: "I heard that the local militia are very powerful, and I want to hire some as bodyguards."

(End of this chapter)